Defending champion Sam Burns today defeated his friend David Riley on the second extra hole of a sudden death playoff in the PGA Tour ‘s Valspar Championship at Innsbrook Resort’s Copper Course in Palm Harbor, Florida. Both are 25 years old in the second and first years, respectively, on the PGA Tour. Burns rimmed his 30-foot birdie putt into the hole to get the win after Riley then hit his chip shot from only a few feet away that missed the hole and went way long.
Riley, still in his rookie year on this Tour, had shot a blistering 62 on Saturday to take the lead into today’s final round. He made a disastrous triple bogey 8 on the par five fifth hole to seriously relinquish his lead. But the sweet swinger slowly got back into the chase and made it an exciting finish. Both players look like they will have stellar Tour careers ahead of them. That is especially true of Burns, who made this already his third win which ties him for the most wins in the past year on the best tour in professional golf. (But see my next post about that.)
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